between breaths i tasted my blood, it was warm and bitter. the only thought running through my head was this: girls are as dangerous as any other addiction. and i was most definitely an addict. in fact, i was in my current condition because of said addiction.

she was just another girl to add to the list, her name was sally. she is not the important one though, her brother his name was bill. bill was a redneck. a protective brother as well. bill found me in position with his sister. lets call it a comprimising position. and this did not sit well with him. he was not much of a talker, but his fists did just fine to convey his emotions.

so here i lay in the back of their house. thankfully i did not break anything, but i was in pretty sorry shape. so i decided home was a bad idea. my dad would start asking questions. he had been like that since my mom died when i was younger. he says he is just a "concerned parent". well in my vocabulary, "concerned parent" is synonymous with "pain in the ass".

so home was out and i did not kid myself into thinking there were a lot of places i was welcome. so i arrived at the only house i knew i would always be welcome and then went around back and did my best to climb in window without making too much of a commotion. i was not too successful.

i fell flat on my face on the floor. fuck. this had been a bad night. i crawled my broken body across the floor to the familiar bed and layed on it. i heard the bathroom door open.

"jesus christ! what happened to you, paul?"

this voice of indifferent blasphemy belonged to a girl named lily. lily was my best friend. and at the present time she stood before me completely naked and full of worry.

"maybe you should get dressed and i will fill you in."

she reddened, but did not lose her worrisome gaze.

"well, ever thought of using the door?"

"then would i get to see such wonderful sights?"

"grow up, i'll be right out"

this was lily at her most beautiful. her caring for me overwhelmed any embarrassment she had for herself.

i layed there in pain thinking about how gay it was to tell a girl to put some clothes on when she is standing in front of you naked and uncharacteristic of a man. especially me. i actually took a little bit of pride in it. it was one of the few decent things i had ever done.

lily reappeared with rubbing alcohol and a washcloth. i winced, no good could come of this. she poured an abundant amount of alcohol on the rag and then placed it under my nose where most of the bleeding was coming from. i inhaled sharply, making a hissing sound.

"don't be such a pussy"

even her insults had a tone of caring behind them.

"cunt"

mine did not.

"i remember when that used to get to me"

she made a few more swipes with the damned washcloth and then proclaimed that she had done the best she could.

"there. now how do you feel?"

what a stupid question.

"like i just got the shit kicked out of me."

"you have had worse. let me wrap those ribs and we will go to bed."

i did not think my ribs were that bad, but lily was in college for nursing and she knew her shit. so no arguments from me. she was fairly quick. i looked down and she had just finished wrapping.

"you are going to have to take it easy for a while, now turn off the light and go lay down."

i folded my clothes and layed them on her dresser and then turned out the lights and limped over to the bed.

i climbed in. lily kissed my forehead.

"goodnight"

"goodnight"

i turned away from her and she wrapped her arms around me. she was home. and babies did not sleep as well as i did that night.